1. Making YOUR WEBSITE MORE EFFECTIVE Website Evaluation & Usability September 17 th, 2008 1

2. PART II Evaluation & Usability PART III www.agep.us A Resource for You Part I Site Content Basics: a Checklist 2

3. Part I Site Content Basics, a Checklist 3

4. Keep in mind... WEB = PRIMARY TOOL for researching graduate programs So... the quality of your website can make a big difference 4

5. To be a successful tool for students, faculty and staff, your website needs: Content that captures interest. 5

6. To be a successful tool for students, faculty and staff, your website needs: Content that captures interest. Content that answers basic questions. 6

7. To be a successful tool for students, faculty and staff, your website needs: Content that captures interest. Content that answers basic questions. Content that encourages people to contact you, and makes it easy. So.... 7

8. Make a good first impression! Most websites serve many audiences. There are eight basic things you can do to sharpen the quality and utility of your website for all viewers. 8

9. 1.Use the AGEP acronym and logo. AGEP has gained national recognition. Take advantage of that! The logo is available at www.agep.us/HRDJAM2008.asp 9

10. http://graduate.indiana.edu/agep/overview.php 10

11. www.wmich.edu/agep 11

12. www.agep.us/programs.asp?sort=alliance 12

13. 2. Put the most basic information up front. Give viewers an orientation at first glance. 13

14. www.umbc.edu/promise/pages/aboutus.html 14

15. www.acsbe.org 15

16. http://graduate.indiana.edu/agep/index.php 16

17. www.gaela.tulane.edu/what_is.htm 17

18. 3. Keep your audience in mind. and make it easy for viewers to get the information they’ll be looking for. A student’s perspective: What is the program about? What is the research focus? What faculty could they work with? 18

19. A faculty member’s perspective: What recruitment and retention resources are available? Are they easy to access? A staff member’s perspective: What resources are available for program management? For sharing ideas and successes? 19

20. www.gaela.tulane.edu/how_apply.htm 20

21. 21

22. www.crossroadsagep.org/page.asp?ContentId=1&location=1 22

23. 23

24. 4. Offer a FAQS page. 24

25. www.umbc.edu/promise/pages/faq.html 25

26. 5. Give your program a human face. Provide links to faculty bios and current student information. 26

27. http://agep.syr.edu/About.htm 27

28. www.stonybrook.edu/agep/Scholars_Graduates/ 28

29. AC SBE Alliance UNC Chapel Hill www.acsbe.org/ACSBEPhotoGallery.htm 29

30. www.ucop.edu/acadadv/agep/students/index.html 30

31. 6. Provide critical contact information for actual people. Make it easy for viewers to contact a real, live person and get their questions answered. 31

32. http://rgs.rice.edu/Grad/agep/contact.cfm 32

33. www.acsbe.org 33

34. http://graduate.indiana.edu/agep/contact.php 34

35. http://www.uab.edu/aagep/PrincipalInvestigators.html 35

36. 7. Provide up-to-date information. And links. AND... make sure the links work. 36

37. 37

38. www.michagep.org/ 38

39. www.grad-college.iastate.edu/agep/ 39

40. www.agep.us/events.asp?sort=all 40

41. 8. And finally... Link to www.agep.us and www.nsfagep.org 41

42. PART II Website Evaluation & Usability 42

43. Why gather web statistics? Assess your web presence Generate graphics and figures to demonstrate your web presence in reports & evaluations Identify areas for website improvement ex. Generating more traffic on specific pages Identifying pages that generate errors Website Statistics 43

44. Volume of Traffic Visits A visit happens when someone accesses your site in a browser. A Person can register multiple visits by leaving your site and then coming back again at a later time. Page views A visitor generates one page view each time he/she accesses a unique page on your website. One visitor can generate multiple page views in a single visit. Page hits The number of files sent from the webserver to the user’s browser. Each page view can generate multiple hits. Bandwidth Usage The amount of data transferred to or from the web server Website Statistics 44

45. Other Statistics IP Addresses of people visiting your site Page errors Users’ browsers Users’ operating systems …Many others statistics possible, depending upon the analytics software available to you Website Statistics 45

46. Sample Summary Report 46

47. Sample Summary Report 47

48. Information on Website Users 48

49. 49

50. Your University or web hosting company likely offers website tracking software such as: - Surf Stats - Google Analytics (free) - Urchin (by Google) - Omniture - WebTrends Web Analytics Software Packages 50

51. Usability Assessment Goal: To assure easy access of relevant information to your target audience Focus Groups Interviews Web, email, or hard copy survey 51

52. Usability Assessment Preparation: Identify your website’s target usergroups Examples: Prospective Students Current Students Faculty Administrators Program Alumni Funders 52

53. Usability Assessment Preparation: Identify core goals of your site Examples Draw prospective students to the program Provide information necessary for applying to the program Provide central location for program contact information Connect current students with Alumni Provide up-to-date events and news associated with the program 53

54. Focus Groups or Individual Interviews 3 – 9 participants (generally a group as small as 5 identifies at least 85% of usability problems Include representatives from each of your website’s usergroups Take excellent notes and consider tape-recording sessions Ask targeted questions that relate to your core website goals Ask open-ended questions soliciting suggestions for improvement Ask what shouldn’t be on the site as well as what should, and what doesn’t work as well as what does Keep focus groups/interviews to under an hour 54

55. Web, email, or hard copy survey 10 or more participants Include representatives from each of your website’s usergroups Ask targeted questions that relate to your core website goals Ask open-ended questions soliciting suggestions for improvement Ask what shouldn’t be on the site as well as what should, and what doesn’t work as well as what does Keep surveys short 55

56. If users visit a site and don’t find what they’re looking for, find it out of date, or experience usability difficulties, THEY DON’T COME BACK. THE SITE IS UTILIZED (27,000 + visits in January 2008) Presents up-to-date information, targeted to specific audiences, in a user-friendly interface THE SITE IS PROMOTED, PROMOTED, PROMOTED Through persistent distribution of trifolds and flyers, inclusion on all materials, and constant mention in workshops, presentations and emails www.ibparticipation.org www.agep.us www.igert.org www.mainestem.org www.msphds.org DATA MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT *THE SITE IS REGULARLY IMPROVED* Staff assess audience needs Data is gathered, organized, backed up and protected, and constantly updated. CONTENT DEVELOPMENT *THE SITE IS CONSTANTLY UPDATED* Databases: programs, Events, Partners, Contacts, Student Profiles, News, Idea Exchange IBP RECEIVES FEEDBACK Prospective Students Fill Out Online Form, Supply Data Files are accessed and/or downloaded by students, PIs, etc.. Website Stats, Communication with PIs, Students, etc. Iterative Design Process 56

57. PART III www.agep.us A Resource for You 57

58. www.agep.us 58

59. agep.us: Profiles highlighting AGEP successes 59

60. agep.us: Events related to STEM education Post Events Online at: www.ibparticipation.org/IBPEventsForm.asp 60

61. agep.us: News related to STEM education Submit your news items to be posted: www.ibparticipation.org/IBPNewsForm.asp 61

62. agep.us: Partners Directory 62

63. Link to Us! Let us promote your programs, events, news & students as part of the STEM network! During the 2008 Spring Semester, we had 30,000 visits/month to our family of sites! Send us your: Student and Faculty Profiles Program Success Stories News Events Ideas and Best Practices Link to Agep.us for: Events News Profiles Best Practices and Resources 63

64. Let us promote your programs, events, news & students as part of the STEM network! During the 2008 Spring Semester, we had 30,000 visits/month to our family of sites! Use our online web forms to send us news & events: http://www.ibparticipation.org/IBPNewsForm.asp http://www.ibparticipation.org/IBPEventsForm.asp 64

65. The Institute for Broadening Participation Contact us with Questions: P.O. Box 607 Damariscotta, ME 04543 1-866-593-9103 contactagep@ibparticipation.org www.agep.us www.ibparticipation.org 65